There was mid-air drama aboard a US-bound Air France–Delta Airlines flight after the aircraft was abruptly diverted to Canada to offload a Congolese passenger who had reportedly boarded “by mistake.”
Flight AF378 had departed Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport on Wednesday afternoon en route to Detroit when passengers were startled by an announcement from the crew that the plane would no longer continue to the United States.
Instead, the aircraft was rerouted to Montreal, Canada.
According to Air France, the diversion was triggered after it emerged that a passenger from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had been allowed on board in violation of newly tightened US travel restrictions.
“There was no medical emergency,” the airline clarified, insisting the decision was purely linked to compliance with evolving US entry rules.
Passengers described confusion mid-flight as the unexpected change of course was announced, turning what had been a routine transatlantic journey into a tense and uncertain situation.
Upon landing in Montreal, the Congolese passenger was taken for medical examination but was found to have no symptoms of illness. Authorities are still trying to establish where exactly the traveler had come from prior to boarding in Paris.
The incident comes as the United States tightens travel controls amid heightened health concerns linked to parts of Africa.
Under new measures expected to take effect, all flights carrying passengers who have recently been in the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan will be required to land only at Washington Dulles International Airport, where enhanced screening protocols are in place.
However, critics say the US is applying blanket restrictions without distinguishing between regions with varying levels of health risk.
For passengers aboard AF378, the policy shift was felt in real time thousands of feet in the air highlighting the growing impact of global health rules on international travel.
